Who's set to make money from the coming artificial intelligence boom?

Sean Gallup/Getty Images Artificial intelligence is about to take off in a big way.

According to a new report by Goldman Sachs, AI is defined as "any intelligence exhibited by machines or software." That can mean machines that learn and improve their operations over time, or that make sense of huge amounts of disparate data.

First, several big tech companies have been storing up patents related to the field.

IBM is the leader, with about 500 patents related to artificial intelligence. IBM's super-computer — Watson — is an example of the shift to AI, as it entered the healthcare sector in 2013 and helped lower the error rate in cancer diagnoses by physicians.

Other big patent players in the space include Microsoft, Google, and SAP.

Analysts from Goldman Sachs are particularly bullish about AI technologies that come from Asia and the US, while Europe lags.

So how do investors capitalize on the coming boom?

Goldman believes Japanese hardware company NEC— the number one facial and text analysis company in the world — is a good investment. They also recommend several companies that sell AI components into cars for scenarios like helping drivers park: Nidec, MobileEye, Nippon Ceramic, and Pacific Industrial.

Marketo and Opower, both based in the U.S, are also rated as buys. Both of these companies focus on personalizing customer engagement through the use of AI to analyze massive amounts of customer data. Goldman's analysts are also bullish about Amazon and Twitter, two companies that use AI to boost revenue and customer loyalty.